The cattle industry suffers commercial losses do to ectoparasites. These losses have been well documented in the past, for example S. E. Kunz, Livestock Pests, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Texas, in: Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science, Volume 2, 1994 put the loss due to the following pests as follows: (a) Horn Flyxe2x80x94$876 million, (b) Stable flyxe2x80x94$432 million, (c) Horse flyxe2x80x94$190 million, (d) Mosquitosxe2x80x94$50 million, and (e) cattle grubxe2x80x94$560 million.
The horn fly is viewed as the most economically damaging pest and causes up to 14 percent weight loss in range cattle. When fly control is practiced, the calves of cows experiencing fly control can have weights up to 6 kilos higher than calves that are infested with horn flies. Steers and heifers also are affected by the horn flies when fly control is not practiced.
The stable fly is another parasite that hampers the cattle industry. Stable flies reduce the average daily gains of beef cattle by about 0.25 kilos per calf in a feed lot situation. The milk production of dairy cattle is also reduced due to the stable fly.
The horse fly and mosquitos are insect vectors of anaplasmosis, which can result in considerable weight loss and death if the animal bitten is left untreated.
The cattle industry has addressed these commercial losses generally using pesticides. The problem with using pesticides is that they do not eliminate all the insects treated, in turn this leads to a more resistant strain of the pest treated. This problem has been documented in S. E. Kunz and K. H. Kemp, Insecticides and Acaricides: Resistance and Environmental Impact, Rev. Sci. Tech. Off. Int. Epiz., 1994, 13(4), pages 1249-1286.
Genetic selection is the underlying process for pesticide resistance. It is documented, in most cases that insects survive pesticide treatment due to genetic differences as opposed to the lack of full exposure to the pesticide. The selective pressure being imposed on pests by insecticides leads to a surviving pest that will breed stronger strains that will be equally resistant to the insecticide being utilized. The following pests have been shown to be resistant to pesticides in the United States: horn flies, buffalo flies, and sheep blowflies. Common problems that pesticide users face include: (1) users see pest survivors after treating the animal with a pesticide, (2) they misunderstand why all of the pests were not terminated, (3) so they increase the dosage of the pesticide used when treating the animals. This increase in pesticide only works to make future generations of the pest more resistant to insecticides. The industry deals with the problem by changing the insecticidcs being used to treat the animals. The problem with this approach is that the animals adapt to the new insecticides and the cycle is repeated. The current trend is that resistance to insecticides is increasing with these pests and the industry""s efforts to produce new pesticide compounds is slowing down. The problem with using pesticides to combat the problem is that the pesticides are toxic to many animals and are harmfull to the environment.
Information relevant to attempts to address theses problems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,419,076, 5,104,659, 4,579,085, and 4,141,173. However, each one of these references suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: pesticide resistance and re-infestation once the animal has been treated.
Accordingly, there is a pressing need in the industry to develop a device or a method to minimize the effects of pests on the cattle industry while at the same time preserving our environment from pesticides.
The present invention is directed to a fly protector for cattle that satisfies the need of reducing the amount of pesticide released into our environment while at the same time protecting cattle from pests that feed upon them. A fly protector for cattle having features of the present invention comprises a rectangular sheet of fabric, wherein a first and a second side of the rectangular sheet of fabric are parallel to each other and measure from about the withers of the cow to about the base of the tail of the cow and where the third and fourth sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric are parallel to each other and have a length that measures a distance that surrounds the dorsal and ventral portions of the cow between the withers and the base of the tail of the cow. The rectangular sheet of fabric will have an anterior means for attachment engaged adjacent to the first and third sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric, the anterior means for attachment will surround the neck of the cow and will serve to secure the fly protector on the cow. The rectangular sheet of fabric will have a posterior means for attachment engaged adjacent to the first and fourth sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric, the posterior means for attachment will surround the base of the tail of the cow and will serve to secure the fly protector on the cow. A plurality of fastening means for connecting the first and second sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric once the fabric has been placed around the dorsal and ventral portion of the cow and in which said plurality of fastenings means will be fastened on the dorsal (upper portion/the back) of the cow. Lastly, a sealing means for sealing the spaces between the plurality of fastening means between the first and second sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric so that the rectangular sheet of fabric forms an impenetrable border between the first and the second sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric. The reason for forming this impenetrable border is to prevent pests from entering the fly protector through this connection while at the same time reinforcing the connection between the first and second sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric. The fly protector ideally will be made of an elastic material that has pores that are no more than 3 millimeters in diameter. The fly protector may have a slit running parallel with the first and second sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric in which said slit is centrally located from all sides of the rectangular sheet of fabric.
In another variation of the invention, the anterior means for attachment will be tubular sheet of fabric that will fit over the cow""s head and rest between the neck of the cow and the withers of the cow. The tubular sheet of fabric will be attached to the fly protector""s anterior portion using a plurality of fastening means and may also employ a sealing means to seal the connection between the anterior portion of the fly protector and the tubular sheet of fabric. The tubular sheet of fabric will guard the cow""s neck portion from being bitten.
Another variation of the invention may employ leg protectors in which the leg protectors are conical sheets of fabric that cover from the dew claw of the cow to about the point of elbow of the cow and in which the leg protectors will be connected by an elastic means that will rest on the dorsal part of the cow so that the front leg protectors are connected together and the rear leg protectors are connected together. The purpose of the leg protectors is to protect milking cows from pests that customarily feed upon them. The purpose for the elastic means is to insure that the leg protectors will not slide down the leg of the cow and thereby defeat the purpose of the leg protectors.
In the above variations of the invention, the sheets of fabric can be porous. The pores can range up to 3 millimeters in diameter, the pores of the sheets of fabric can be determined based on the pest that the cow is being guarded against.